I have to admit that the infectious American optimism is getting even to me, and I am beginning to believe that change is coming, and that change would be for the good of all. The Obama factor is BIG and believe me it’s going to change a lot of things. I believe I will want to remember where I was and what I was doing when it happened. As of now, I am living in a country where the colour of your skin does not seem to matter in theory but it does and sometime it can hit you very hard when you have to face it, especially in my line of work, teaching language science and a language which is not my native tongue.
As a people group, I believe most of us are racists, may be more so than people in our neigbouring states. I wouldn't want to be a non-local person in our land because of all the things an outsider has to endure. The Burmese, the Vais, the Brus, the Chakmas - it's not easy for them at all. You can't imagine one of them becoming the Chief Minister of the state. The names we call, the treatment we mete out, the way we abuse and the general negative attitude we have of them - I would never want to endure in the life of me. It would be an understatement to say 'It's not nice!' when you are made to feel the second best, not because of your ability, but merely for the colour of your skin or the passport you are holding.
I have written extensively on the demigod status that some white-skinned folks enjoy in some societies including ours. And I am still trying to find ways to convince people that a person is not better or worse than you simply because of his race or colour. As the walls of separation came crushing down in the land of opportunities, I begin to believe that one day we would be free of all these shackles and live as equals in this southwest region of the galaxy. The place may look like a little speck of dust from outer space, but we shall find that there's a room for us all, black and blue, white and green and all colours, on this planet after all. So, I salute you, Mr. President Elect, and I join you in saying "Yes, We Can!" with much more enthusiasm and believe than when you first begun.
One man spoke of his dream on August 28, 1963, from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and said, "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’ I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood." Just look at what had become of his dreams. You have to dream big, and the dream will come to you eventually.
